Wells Gets a Gold Mine, Oregon Gets the Shaft
While the eyes of Congress and the public were focused on the $700 billion Wall Street bailout in September, the Bush administration slipped through a tax break for banks that could cost the federal treasury $140 billion - and cost the state of Oregon a bundle too.
The Didjeridude: Tyler Spencer puts a new spin on an Aboriginal Australian instrument
Tyler Spencer and a prized didjTyler Spencer was only 15 when he stumbled across a metal tube in his parents' basement and happened to blow into it, creating a unique resonating sound. While the tube was actually a piece of exercise equipment, Spencer's father told him about an Australian Aboriginal instrument called the didjeridu. Spencer…
GOP Advice: “Freeze Out” Liberal Reporters
Who's to blame for Republican Party's election setbacks in Oregon? It was the durn liberal media, of course.
Ex-Mayor Bill Friedman Dies
The Eye was saddened this morning to learn of the death Sunday of Bill Friedman, former Bend mayor and veteran city councilor, of complications following surgery at St. Charles Medical Center.
Bachelor to Cancel Free Ski Day
Mount Bachelor management is canceling Free Ski Day, a popular annual charitable event that has been a tradition in Central Oregon for decades.
FCC Probes Bend Broadband Pricing Policies
The Federal Communications Commission has launched an investigation into the pricing policies of 11 cable TV services, including Central Oregon's own Bend Cable Communications.
Got Them Low-Down, High-Deductible Health Care Blues
There was a touching story on the front page of the local section of Bend's Only Daily Newspaper this morning - touching, but also disgusting and infuriating.
The Weekend Warrior
Starting today, The Blender is going to do our damndest to bring you a guide for the weekend to come every Friday. We're not saying that our readership is out of touch and needs a blog post to direct them toward non-sucky weekend events, but rather lending a helping hand in whittling down that long…
Obama’s Progesssive Mandate
It's just three days after Barack Obama swept the board in the presidential race, and already the mainstream media pundits are repeating their shopworn argument that "America is still a center-right country."
Early Turns on Mt. B
Throughout much of the day yesterday the sky was spitting out snow, much of it mixed with rain, but up on Mt. Bachelor it was dumping.
Of Foxes and Henhouses
This week's letter of the week comes from Mac Simon who takes aim at the recent city council shake-up. Thanks for the pointed letter, Mac. Stop by the Source headquarters to claim your winner's spoils, a $20 gift certificate to Parrilla Grill. Tasty! While you were sleeping - or celebrating, a ground-breaking, earth-shaking, life-changing election…
Good Dog, Bad Owner
This morning, my one desire was a simple thing; a quiet walk through a beautiful setting without the need to fend off an attack. So today I took my dog for a morning walk in the park. My dog was on leash and we delighted in the crisp air and newly fallen leaves. Suddenly two…
Another Bad Deal At Juniper Ridge
In Thursday, October 23rd Bulletin I was surprised to read "Suterra likely to relocate to Juniper Ridge". Suterra is a pesticide/biochemical company who plans to build a new factory in Bend. Their most well known product, Checkmate, is a genetically modified product they refer to as a pheromone. This is the chemical that was aerially…
Don’t Hate Corn
The October 29 article "Wanted: Good Buns…as in the bread that holds your burger," may mislead consumers about high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup, sugar, and several fruit juices are all nutritionally the same. High fructose corn syrup has the same number of calories as sugar and is handled similarly by the body.…
Tickets Are Real
I read the article "Beware Parking Ticket Racket" from the September 25th issue. I decided to do some research of my own because I did not believe everything the gentlemen had stated. From the information and facts I had found it seems that he is just a pissed off person with a valid ticket and…
BendFilm Was Always First
I accepted the request of the BendFilm board to be the Executive Director in November 2007. So that we would not have to close our doors, I came on board for no salary for two months - which was my choice. At all times, I have attempted to honor the mission of BendFilm, which is…
Is Bigger Better? Bend weighs an unprecedented growth plan.
Hay farm today, auto mall tomorrowYou can't see Bend's sprawling auto malls and shopping centers, or the rows and rows of cookie cutter homes, from Dave Hanson's hay and cattle ranch south of Redmond, but Hanson, whose family has been farming out here since the 1940s, can feel it - sure enough. Hanson breeds brood…
Our Medieval Electoral College
Where’s the moat?A Wikipedia search for the origins of the Electoral College yields the following interesting factoid: "Germanic law stated that the German king led only with the support of his nobles. Thus, Pelayo needed to be elected by his Visigothic nobles before becoming king of Asturias, and so did Pepin the Short by Frankish…
Trick or Cheating: Taking the easy way out on Halloween, crazy Coulter, and sex talks
The Queen of Shock
Trick-Or-Driving Upfront was primed to launch a tirade on this page about the apparent death of trick or treating, seeing as how last Friday we only had three groups of masked children come to our door. But we soon learned, upon arriving in a different neighborhood, that kids are still hitting…
What Goes ‘Round, Come Around: The curious life of bot flies
In the 80-plus years I have lived on this grand old planet we call home, I have come to realize that the world of nature is so complex I will go out among the stars with only a hint of what's really going on.
Take bot flies for example. These pestiferous little buggers (pun intended)…
Fall into Winter: Squeeze in a last-chance hike before the snow falls
THREE FALL HIKES Fall colors at Mt. JeffersonFall is hiking season in Central Oregon. Now that November is here, the window of opportunity for many of our best hikes is closing quickly, but if you can squeeze in one more hike before the snow flies, here are some of my favorites. Get there any which…
Wii Like Music: Nintendo takes on the Guitar Hero phenomenon
Somewhere under the rainbow, robotic children play music.It's been a slow process for Nintendo to release games that use the Wii balance board, but now comes Wii Music. This game was in line to be released with the Wii system, but it ran into a few snags and was more or less left in the…
Lifeless Haunting Will Shock No One: You’ve seen this one before…on every channel
Scissor sisters. I almost don't know what to say about this innocuous entry into the thriller genre except that it's as about as mediocre as they come, as generic as it gets, and predictable beyond a shadow of a doubt. My first thought was proven to be true that any movie with "Haunting" in the…
Get A Real Porno: Zack and Miri make a forgettable movie
The milkman always rings twice. You can try to distract me, Kevin Smith, but despite the gratuitous nudity, rampant profanity and every euphemism for male and female genitalia in existence, Zack and Miri Make a Porno is full of poorly written dialogue, boring characters and sentimentality that plays cheesy and awkward. Zack (Seth Rogen, Knocked Up)…
Quick Bites: Good, Cheap Eats on Northbound 97
Not to worry, the world still revolves around Bend. But for times when you are forced – by death or marriage – to leave Bend, where will you eat along the way? For many years, my trips northbound on Highway 97 to Portland or Seattle were punctuated by visits to Pepe’s in Madras. I swore…
Quick Bites: Good, Cheap Eats on Northbound 97
Not to worry, the world still revolves around Bend. But for times when you are forced - by death or marriage - to leave Bend, where will you eat along the way? For many years, my trips northbound on Highway 97 to Portland or Seattle were punctuated by visits to Pepe's in Madras. I swore…
Bend’s Godmother of Dining: Pine Tavern offers lessons only history can teach
Seeing the forest for the trees. In Bend’s increasingly volatile dining scene, Pine Tavern is a stalwart. Established in 1936, it has perfected the recipe for success in the restaurant business: a warm and comfortable atmosphere, impeccable service, and, of course, great food. The oft-mentioned lore of the place is certainly a draw, notably the…
Bend’s Godmother of Dining: Pine Tavern offers lessons only history can teach
Seeing the forest for the trees. In Bend's increasingly volatile dining scene, Pine Tavern is a stalwart. Established in 1936, it has perfected the recipe for success in the restaurant business: a warm and comfortable atmosphere, impeccable service, and, of course, great food. The oft-mentioned lore of the place is certainly a draw, notably the…
The Last Rockers: The Commercial Underground is about as much of a rock band as you’ll find
The Commercial Underground: Real rockers.The Commercial Underground is about as much of a rock band as you're likely to find in these parts.
Party on Bend, Party On: GWAR, a snowboarding movie, metal and Jackass antics all in one sitting
You should see these guys on a snowboard.In today's Ritalin-filled youth culture, it seems that the under 25 crowd can be hard to please. We're hard to shock, hard to motivate and hard to entertain with an attention span that seems to get increasingly shorter every year. The economic downturn isn't exactly helping the entertainment…
Playing in the Band: Keller Williams has an all-star band and a grip on the shrinking jam band scene
Oh Keller (third from left) you're so funny.A lot of people originally went to see Keller Williams expressly because the musician didn't have a band behind him. But now, after more than a decade of touring, people are rushing to see him because he does have a band playing with him - rather than the…
Random Wanderings on the Morning After
The most surprising thing about this election to The Eye is how blue Deschutes County turned out to be.
